Chippenham, United Kingdom

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This well-known English village gets featured on everything from calendars to chocolate box lids!Although mostly famous as being ‘the prettiest village in England’, Castle Combe dates back to Roman times. It later developed as a weaving town along with the rest of Wiltshire in the fifteenth century. It manufactured a red and white cloth known as ‘Castlecombe’. Weaving was carried out in the 50 or so weaving cottages.

This particular location featured in the film Dr Doolittle which stared Rex Harrison. During this time a certain army officer by the name of Ranulph Fiennes became offended by the construction of an ugly concrete dam built to create a harbour scene. Fiennes planned to demolish the dam. He used explosives which he later claimed to have obtained legitimately from the armoury. Using skills from a recently completed training course on evading search dogs by night, he escaped capture, but he and a guilty colleague were both subsequently traced. After a court case, Fiennes had to pay a hefty fine and he and his co-conspirator were discharged from the SAS. Fiennes was initially posted to another cavalry regiment but was then allowed to return to his regiment.

I’m fortunate to live only a few miles away, so managed to capture this classic scene in the early morning before the tourist coaches arrived!

Correct Richard.And also where Sir Ranulph Fiennes imfamously planned to blow up the temporary dam which had been built to create the Dr Doolittle harbour as he was offended by it’s construction in such a pretty village! As a result, he and a co-conspirator were discharged from the SAS.